I’ve scoured the internet high and low for some fantastic websites you can spend time on, without feeling like you are missing out on theater stuff during the pandemic.
1. For Podcasts...Broadway Podcast Network
So. Many. Podcasts! That focus specifically on theater, Broadway, and the West End! Did you know that Tim Rice, Donna McKechnie, and Kerry Butler all have podcasts? Listen to them here, along with podcasts on backstage happenings, show-based series, and even some Dungeons and Dragons played by thespians!
2. For Streaming Shakespeare...Globe Player
I am personally having a war with myself to switch from Netflix and Hulu over to subscribing to the Globe’s streaming service. Not only do they have shows in English, but in performed in other languages too! Lithuanian productions of Hamlet with subtitles, a South Korean production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and one of my favorites, Twelfth Night with Stephen Fry as Malvolio and Mark Rylance as Olivia!
3. For Book Box Subscriptions...Dramatists Play Service Book Club
I, again, personally have not used this service. It’s a quarterly (and somewhat pricey) book subscription box, at $34.99 for a box of seven plays delivered four times a year. I’m not someone who has book box subscriptions, but if I ever become one, it would absolutely be this one.
4. For Brushing Up on Your Shakespeare (Scansion)...Precanned Shakespeare
Are you performing Shakespeare soon and haven’t the faintest idea on how to score your lines? Thank goodness for Precanned Shakespeare! This site, presents each play and sonnet by Shakespeare with each line of verse scanned with syllable notes, indicating where the emphasis in lines and words belongs.
5. For Reading Plays Online...Scribd
If you subscribe to any reading-focused website, it should be Scribd. There are so many nonfiction, fiction, and audiobooks here for your enjoyment. Know what else they have, at the price of $9.99 month for access to everything? Hundreds of plays and musical theater books.
6. For Finding DVDs and CDs of International Shows...eBay
I’ve found a million different cast albums for Wicked, Elisabeth, Tanz der Vampire, and more, that you can’t find on Amazon. There is far more memorabilia from various productions than on Amazon.
7. For Finding DVDs and CDs and Sheet Music and More of International Shows...Sound of Music-Shop
Goodness I love this website. I can’t find sheet music for Die Päpstin anywhere else but here! You can use their advance search to filter shows by country, which streamlines your quest for more international musicals even quicker!